Laos Boast Over 10 bn Tons of Potassium Reserve, Offering Opportunities for Chinese Firm to Strike Gold

Laos: Sukansa Sisu, director of the Department of Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Laos, said that Laos' Potash reserves topped 10 billion tonnes on the seventh at the World Potash Fertiliser Conference opening ceremony in Golmud, Qinghai, in 2023.

The crowd across from me is sitting upright. This is a huge opportunity for investors. There are numerous upstream and downstream sectors worth investigating in addition to Potash mining.

Salt Lake Co., Ltd. aspires to construct a reliable overseas salt lake resource continuation site and represent the national policy to achieve sustainable development, according to Ma Lichun, vice president of Salt Lake Co., Ltd.

Potash resources have a finite number of reserves in China. Protective mining is necessary since resource depletion is evident after years of mining. Some businesses have consciously cut back on their yearly output. The neighbouring country of Laos, which is connected to mine by land, is also reporting positive developments: this year, Potash International will have a production capacity of one million tonnes, as will Oriental Tower and Potassium International. The Oriental Tower will also add another 2 million tonnes of production capacity, bringing the total production capacity to 3 million tonnes. The long-term objective is to reach 5 million tonnes of production capacity. Zangge Mining also increased its production capacity in Laos by 2 million tonnes.

The above three businesses' combined output capacity in Laos will be 10 million tonnes. The yearly output of the three enterprises mentioned above in Laos will eventually exceed the country's annual import amount, which is currently at 8 million tonnes.

The three corporations' enormous resource reserves allow them to prepare for such a high production capacity.

For instance, Potassium International and its 100%-owned subsidiary Zhongnong International have a combined reserve of 1.002 billion tonnes of Potassium ore resources, which is equal to 152 million tonnes of resources for pure Potassium chloride has more Potash than the country's reserves.

Only this year has Zangge Co., Ltd. purchased mines from Laos. A 400 square kilometre area is used for mining Potassium salt. The projected 600 million tonnes of Potassium chloride resources are based on the already available exploration data. With a 400 million tonne Potassium ore stockpile, Oriental Tower has been operating in Laos for many years.

It might be stated that private businesses have led the way in globalisation, successfully developing Laotian resources, and achieving mass manufacturing.

State-owned businesses are a little behind schedule in this area. State-owned businesses are being overly cautious while private businesses have access to excellent resources.

On May 25, senior officials from Salt Lake City, including Vice President Yu Qiuping, President Ma Lichun, chief engineer He Yongping, and others, travelled to Potassium International Laos for on-site exchanges and inspections. They also spoke with Potash International Chairman Guo Baichun and the senior management team.

Additionally, Salt Lake intends to hire two professional managers at the deputy general level soon, one of whom will oversee overseas Potassium/Lithium mineral resource exploration and technical negotiations; the other will oversee overseas investment and finance, and will be in charge of overseas equity mergers and acquisitions, capital operations, fund management, financial cooperation, etc.

There are several hints that Salt Lake has chosen to travel abroad to buy mines and expand its resource reserves.

Laos has more than 10 billion tonnes of Potash reserves, therefore there are still a lot of resources that haven't been put up for external bidding.

The Vientiane Basin and the Nakhon Ratchasima Basin in Khammung Province are where most of the Potash resources in Laos are located. The Potash mines in the Vientiane Basin have not yet produced goods because of the existence of soluble spar in the mines and limitations on the mining procedure. In the Khan-Mong Province's Nakhon Ratchasima Basin, there are good mining conditions, little overflow spar, shallow burial, and dense ore bodies in the Potash deposits.